March 17, 2025 (EIRNS)—In an interview with Mapping Global China, Italian economist and former Undersecretary of State Michele Geraci was asked if he could suggest to China’s President Xi Jinping one thing, on how to make the BRI more successful, what would he say. Geraci answered, “Bring the U.S.A. into it. We almost did it. Kerry was in favor. Obama was against.”
Geraci was referring to the period when he was a member of the Italian government and, while organizing Italy’s membership in the BRI, he had contacts overseas to explain to American officials what Italy’s interest was. Geraci said that the BRI has no obligations and is an option: you can join it and nobody forces you to do anything. In the case of the Italy-China BRI memorandum, Geraci even had quite unprecedented concessions from China on “rules,” such as, there should be a level playing field, and for so forth, for Italy, a Western country.
If Geraci is again in the government, he will have Italy join the BRI again, this time with a 30-year deadline, he said. And he will have the Italian government buy a share in the BRICS New Development Bank. “Just a chip, which allows you to sit there and get directly what is going on instead of reading it in the newspapers.”
